Ospreys Rugby are delighted to announce that Wales prop, Ryan Bevington, has signed a new deal that will keep him with the region until the summer of 2016.
The 25-year old loose head, who is just three games short of a century for his home region, has signed a two-year contract, making him the eighth player to recommit to the Ospreys since the turn of the year - and the seventh graduate of the region’s development pathway.
Bevington is a product of Porthcawl RFC, captaining the Ospreys at age-grade level before going on to play Premiership rugby for Bridgend and Aberavon.
His senior Ospreys debut came at the end of the 07/08 season away at Connacht, and he has scored three tries in his 97 regional appearances.
Capped by Wales at all age-grade levels, he played in two Junior World Championships before gaining his first senior international experience as an unused member of the 2011 Six Nations squad. His Wales debut came against the Barbarians that year, and he has 13 caps to date, the last of which was against Italy last month.
Speaking after signing his new deal, Bevington said:
“I’ve been an Osprey since I was 15, this is my home and where I was born and bred so I’m happy to be here. I want to play for the Ospreys for as long as I can.
“For myself, there was no other option to consider, I wanted to stay here as it’s the environment that I think is best for me and my long-term ambitions. We are ambitious and we want to do well as a team, and I think that with the young group of players we have here we can grow as a team over the next few years.
“There has always been real competition for places in the front row here and that hasn’t changed, with some real quality boys coming through and the likes of Duncan who has taught me so much. The challenge for me is to try and get regular game time and keep improving as a player. This is the best place for me to do that.”
Andy Lloyd, Rugby Operations Manager at the region, welcomed the news as another positive development at the region, saying:
“Ryan is the seventh player to have come through our development pathway who has recommitted to the Ospreys in recent weeks, the eighth player in total since the start of the year.
“We are working hard to secure the players who we believe can help to drive the Ospreys forward in the coming seasons, allowing us to maintain our position as Wales' number one region, and this is news that should please all our supporters and commercial partners.
“Ryan has all the attributes to go on and have a hugely successful career. He’s got amazing athletic ability and has already got a huge amount of experience for a young prop.
“The challenge for him now is to kick on and turn his undoubted potential into something more than that. Potentially, he can be whatever he wants to be in terms of his rugby, it’s about making sure that he does that on a consistent basis now, through hard work on and off the field. We’ve seen him pull out some top drawer performances in an Ospreys shirt, now want to see that from him week in, week out.”
In addition to Ryan, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Lewis, Ashley Beck, Eli Walker, Jonathan Spratt, Ben John and Dmitri Arhip have all signed new contracts in 2014, while the signings of Newport Gwent Dragons pair, Dan Evans and Sam Parry, and Fiji centre, Josh Matavesi, have all been confirmed for next season.